Citric Acid
by button-pusher
Summary: She used the excuse of a rough life to act bitter. She was sour, cynical, and hard to swallow...but he liked the taste. It was just like citric acid. Rating may change


**Man, I haven't written a Harvest Moon fanfic in a long time. I feel like the HM community has sorta fizzled out so I'm hoping to finally get to writing some of my story ideas and revitalize it a bit.** **Anyway, my intentions for this story is to make it more emotionally driven and touching.**

 **I should explain that this story is based on the idea that Angela has grown up on Castanet and the farm has been in her family for a couple generations now. Chase has just moved in to study under Yolanda and starts to learn more about Castanet and its current problems as well as the people, especially Angela.**

* * *

It was mid spring and the breeze carried a sort of sweetness alien to city folk like him. The windows were flung open to welcome the season and ( _hopefully_ ) air out that new house smell he could never get accustomed to. The last of his belongings, neatly packaged into cardboard boxes lay strewn about carelessly on the floor and he plopped down on the couch, physically exhausted. At least the neighbors were nice enough to help him move the larger pieces of furniture into the house. _Ruth and Craig,_ they had introduced themselves then proceeded to argue in his front yard. _An interesting couple._ Everyone else he had bumped into were kind and welcomed him with open arms, as if he was the newest addition to Castanet's big happy family.

He was part of a community now. He could start over.

 _A new life_...it sounded wonderful and felt even better now that this long-time dream was now slowly becoming a reality. He took in another breath of the crisp spring air, smelling the pollen and the traces of wildflowers and... _manure_? That distinctive and unwelcomed scent of cow dung was now wafting into the room. Chase scurried to his feet, shut the windows only to see an unfamiliar young woman around his age walking by. He had noted that most (if not all) of the young women he had seen here thus far were quite attractive. _Not that I'm looking for that kind of thing at the moment_ , he reminded himself. But this girl...he deemed her to be the least impressive of the bachelorettes with her short, spiky brown hair that was thin and fragile, much like her figure. She was tall and lanky for her age and was cursed with almost boyish facial features. Her tattered boots were nearly falling apart at the seams and she wore a tunic several sizes too big to cover any traces of her femininity, but her lightly tanned arms and hands showed years of hard, labor-heavy work that attributed to her more _athletic_ figure. Chase's attention fell to the bag she had thrown over her shoulder. Crudely written in what looked like faded Sharpie marker were the words _"The Shit Sack"_.

 _So that's what smells._ She must deliver cow manure for the farms to use...what a contemptible profession. He watched and listened as a steady stream of profanities left her lips in a whisper.

 _"I hate this job...stupid old man...wheelbarrow's broken, my ass..."_ The girl carelessly threw the "shit sack" onto the porch and yelled out to Chase's neighbors with surprising volume, "RUTH! CRAIG!" The cranky woman emerged from the shop, yelling at an almost equal volume for the young woman to _not_ put the bag on the porch.

"Whoops." She leaned against the railing and simply glanced at the bag that was now tipped over, some of its contents spilling onto the rotted wood.

"I don't need that crap smeared all over my landing!" Ruth flailed a small gardening shovel threateningly out at the girl.

"Yeah, okay. I get it." She nudged the bag away from the porch with her foot, letting it tumble down the steps and onto the ground. "I'll leave it out here for Craig."

"Thanks, Ange." Ruth turned back to the shop, "I'd invite you in but you smell terrible." 'Ange' narrowed her eyes at the middle-aged woman but made no effort to retort, "Hold on for a second and I'll grab your order." Ruth quickly returned with several bags of potato and cabbage seeds, holding them out to 'Ange' with a scowl. "Your total's gonna be 360G. That's without the twenty percent discount factored in so that would be..." The woman pondered for a moment, "Lemme get a calculator real quick-"

"It's 288." She was already fishing the coins out of her pockets, separating the gold from the bottle caps and shreds of dirtied paper.

Ruth's eyes wandered around as she waited until they fell back on Chase's house.

"Did you know we got ourselves a new neighbor?" Ruth's mouth twitched into a smirk.

"No way." Her sharp eyes were still searching for more gold coins among her pocket trash. "How could I have missed that newly built house on your front lawn?" He liked this girl's dryness.

"Hmm, smart ass." Ruth sneered, "He's around your age. Maybe you could try to make friends with someone who hasn't seen that god awful attitude of yours first."

"I'm sure he'll find me just as personable as you." She handed the gold out to Ruth with a grimace.

"Hmmph!" Ruth accepted the payment and tossed the girl the seeds then flashed a sad smile toward the brunette. "Hey, how's your father doing? Any better?"

"He's fine." _Bitterness_.

"Tell him I asked about him."

"Will do. Thanks, Ruth." Chase watched curiously as the girl carted the seeds up the road to the other farm next door.

 _What a bitch_ , he thought and slammed the window shut.

He checked the recently installed wall clock... _12:30 p.m._ He was supposed to meet his employer tonight. With one last glance out the window, Chase headed for the bathroom for a much-needed shower.

* * *

"You must be Chase." The stout man smiled under his beard. "It's nice to finally meet ya. Name's Hayden." He offered a robust hand out to him.

"The pleasure is mine, sir." Chase took it and forced a smile like he learned well how to do in the city.

"Well, here we are." Hayden opened the door, revealing the empty bar, save for two young women- a busty blonde, scantily clad and fully equipped to easily flirt her way to a hefty tip and a rather stoic brunette sitting on the bar that... _wait a minute._ Short, spiky brown hair; lanky figure; almost boyish facial features. _Her,_ from earlier _. Was she a frequent customer?_

Neither seemed to notice (and frankly, 'Ange' did not look like she cared if she did anyway) as they seemed to be on the cusp of an argument. One little push was all it would seem to take. The blonde that was currently scrubbing furiously at a spot on a table, glowering at the brunette on the counter who seemed too busy devoting all her attention at a grease stain on the wall. At least the blonde was making a conscious effort to _look_ busy. She cleared her throat, "What are you doing just sitting around, _Angela_?" She spat, "I thought you were supposed to break down the bar's load in the back!" _Angela...so she works here._

'Angela' visibly twitched as her apathetic countenance twisted into one of annoyance. Doe brown eyes peered sidelong at the blonde, "I told you, we didn't _get_ one!" then back at the grease stain. "We haven't gotten one in well over a month now and you know that, _Kathy_." Chase glanced Hayden. He was rubbing his temples muttering something along the lines of ' _here we go again'_.

"Then why do we even NEED you?" 'Kathy' growled through her teeth.

"Maybe you DON'T."

"Then LEAV-"

"Ladies!" Kathy sprang up, flushed. Angela simply craned her neck to look, that apathetic countenance still on her face. "Can we try to _not_ scare away the new residents for once? This hostility is becoming intolerable!" Kathy quickly bounced toward the owner, still flushed and spewing apologies. She grabbed Chase's hand and shook it.

"I'm sorry, it's not normally like this-"

"Yes it is-" Angela added.

"-we've just been going through some hard times lately and it's..." Kathy trailed off, searching for the right words but ultimately found nothing. Behind her, Angela grimaced, muttering quietly to herself, "Yeah...'hard times'. _That's_ why we don't get along, Kathy."

"I think that's enough." Hayden sighed once again. "Chase, this is my daughter Kathy." The blonde shook his hand, smiling brightly. "And this is Angela. Her father owns a farm." _A farm, huh?_ His mind drifted back to Ruth and Craig's obvious dysfunctionality. _Must be a farmer thing._ Doe brown eyes met equally sharp violet ones and she forced a half-smile. "Ladies, this is Chase. Starting tomorrow, he will be our now chef, so please, be nice." Hayden grinned under his beard and behind him, Angela's half-assed visage shattered.

"Wait, wha-"

"It's nice to meet you, Chase!" Kathy patted his back and winked, "We're a fun bunch so I know you'll just love it here!"

"Hayden, are you crazy!?" Angela was now standing, scowling in his direction. She glanced back at Hayden, "Are you trying to run your business into the ground? Business has been as slow as molasses and we can't even get a damn fire to light to cook _any_ thing, so you hire a new chef?" Kathy gasped in horror and immediately cut in,

"Angela! Can't you keep your ugly cynicism to yourself for one frickin' minute?!"

"Calm down. It's a valid question. I mean, what is he supposed to do? Toss up some more salads for Renee's cattle?" The brunette shot back.

" _Angela_." Hayden reproached, desperately attempting to keep his voice a level tone.

"I'm just being realistic here." Her gaze fell on Chase. "You're just adding more people to the payroll that you cannot afford, Hayden." A sigh left her lips, "Or need, for that manner."

"That's enough." She turned her back to the group and scowled.

"Everything isn't going to magically turn back to how it used to be. It doesn't _work_ like that."

"You don't KNOW that, Angela." Angela reeled her head back around to the group, incredulous. Any faster and Chase was convinced she would have snapped her neck.

"Ughh..." The brunette grasped at her fragile strands in fistfuls. "I _hate_ it when you get so... _optimistically unrealistic_. All of _this_ -" She waved her arms recklessly in every direction, "-isn't some minor recession. The island's DYING! It's BEEN dying! Even the mayor's son bailed for Goddess's sake!" Her arms dropped down to her sides, dismissed. "Don't you ever think that maybe if there was a solution, we would've found it by now? Maybe this is our course. Maybe this is our fate..." Her voice fell to barely above a whisper, "Maybe the Goddess has finally abandoned us." Kathy stomped forward, stabbing a finger at her colleague's chest.

"Don't you dare say that when you haven't even TRIED to find a solution! In fact, you were the first one to leave without even telling-!"

"I KNOW!" Angela snapped, "Why do you always hang that over my head?! That was YEARS ago, Kathy! Does it really even matter anymore?" Kathy crossed her arms over her chest, eyes glassy and brows twitching as pink lips quivered because, clearly, it did matter to someone. Angela turned, and sharp eyes locked with his once again, "I hate to say it, Chase, but your time is wasted on such a depressing little island." As if he hadn't already figured that out. She stuck her nose back in the air, "Hell, you probably want to book a ticket off of this island as soon as possible. It's hopeless, a lost cause, so sorry you wasted your tim-HEY!" Before she could finish, Kathy was dragging the young woman by the collar of her shirt into the back room.

"I...I'm sorry about that, Chase." Hayden frowned, "It's been rough, but I still have faith. We can make do."

* * *

Angela came in early for work the next day. Kathy was still focused on that same spot on the table in the corner from the day prior and Hayden was absent-mindedly shining his martini glasses so the brunette retreated to the kitchen to get done whatever little cleaning needed to be done only to find that young peach-haired man from yesterday occupied her usual spot.

He found she wreaked of dirty farm animals.

Doe brown met violet once again and they remained that way for what felt like an extremely uncomfortable and unnecessarily long time for Chase. He fully believed those sharp eyes were purposed for the sole reason to immobilize potential prey until she could tear into them with her brutal words. Today, luckily, she did not,

"You're still here." She stated (as if he didn't know that already).

"Astute observation." She was burning holes in the side of his head with that stare, he could just _feel_ it. "Was I supposed to leave?"

"Only if you wanted to." Angela replied as she proceeded to plunge her hands into the hot, soapy dishwater.

"It's a matter of finances more than anything." Even if he wanted to leave, he _did_ just spend all of his life savings on that new house.

"Isn't it always?" He wondered if that was why she was _here_ too, performing menial jobs that offered little reward.

 _"Stay away from the acidic. They will do nothing but bring you down."_

It was the one thing he vividly remembered his mother saying to him. She repeated it like a mantra, branding it into his mind to take with him after she was gone. And even after she was gone he still preferred oranges over apples, squeezed more than a little lemon into his water, and he found that there was no one more _acidic_ than himself. Until now.

"Regardless," Her gaze fell to the still water, "It _is_ nice to have a new face around here." A slight smile- a genuine one- tugged at her lips. _Maybe,_ he speculated, _we're really on par with one another._

"Thanks, I guess."

* * *

 **I am open for any kind of constructive criticism. I haven't written a story in a long time so I'm also a little rusty but I'm content with how this turned out. I hope everyone enjoyed it!**


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